Piston-rod packing.



A. W. FRANCE. PIsToN non PACKING;

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1909.

Patented J an. 4, 1910.

`Philadelphia, in the county UNITED smasngnnr OFFICE.

ADAM w. FRANCE, oF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssI-GNon PACKINGCOMPANY, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

PISTON-ROD PACKING.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADAM W. FRANCE, a citizen lof the United States,residing at of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvalna, have invented anImprovement in Piston-Rod Packing, of which the following description,in connection withthe accompanying drawings, is a specifica-tion, likecharacters on the drawings representing like parts.

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to piston rod packingof the general character set forth in my prior patent No. 636,512, datedNovember 7, 1899. In said prior patent there was shown, described, andclaimed a rod packing comprising a packing ring formed of a plurality ofrelatively movable sections havlng inner and outer abutting facesextending at an angle to each other, so that as the piston or other rodvaried in diameter these sections would move upon and relative to eachother to maintain a steam or fluid tight joint under the action of anencircling spiral spring. In adapting this general character of rodpacking to a gas engine, it is found that some gas will iind its Wayinto the ring retaining groove of the case above the ring, or, in otherwords, highly heated gas Will et between .the circumferential surface osurrounding wall of the sult that the temper of case, with the rethespring which surrounds the ring islsoon destroyed and,

if the ring sections of the first ring are free to contract, the gaspressure on the circumferential surface of the ring will force thesections hard against the inclosed piston rod and cause scoring orinjury thereto.

With these and other facts in view, the object of the present inventionis to provide a piston rod packing which may be used either in gas orstean engines to form a gas or steam tight joint between the piston rodand the surrounding case, and which will be freefrom the objections atpresent encountered. These and other objects of the invention willl,best be madeclear from the following description and. accompanyingdrawings'of one form bodying the invention, l that the true scopethereof is defined in the claims. v

In the drawings: Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view of one simpleform of stuffing box with the features o the present Speeication ofLetters Patent. Application led June 11, 1909; Serial No. 501,469.`

As indicated in the drawings, (taining element may be formed of one orthe ring and the of construction emit being -understood Patented Jan.4,1910.

invention associated therewith; Fig. 2 is a transverse section on'theline 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing the normal relation of the first packingring and rod; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3 3, Fig. l',showing the normal relation of the other packing rings of the set andthe. rod; Fig.' 4 is a detached' detail view looking in the direction ofthe arrow, Fig. 2, showingthe shouldered portions of the first ring innormal condition bearing against each other so that the ring cannotcontract any farther; and Fig. 5 is a detached detail view looking inthe direction of the arrow, Fig. 3, showing they normal condition ofseparation between the shouldered portions of the sections of ringsother` than the first.

Inv the drawings, the stuliing box l, water jacketed at. 2 and havingthe interior chamber for the reception of one or more cases 3 for thepacking rings 4, the gland 5 and screw bolts 6 for holding the gland andcase or cases in place, and through which the piston rod 7 passes, maybe of any usual or desired construction, the form of these parts'shownbeing merely-typical of a stumng box and its usual associatedparts. the ring remore cases 3 preferably divided longitudinally, asusual, and held together by screw bolts or otherwise. Such case is alsoprovided with division walls 8 forming grooves or recesses for thepacking rings 4. The interior diameter of the division Walls 8, the

T0 THE FRANCE gland and the cylinder opening at. 9 for the passage ofthe piston rod 7 are preferably made somewhat'greater than the diameterof the piston rod, so that the latter may have ysome play thereinwithout danger 'of scoring, andfor 'further reasons, as will presentlyappear.

Mounted in each of the recesses or seats of the retaining case 3, or, inother words, disposed between each twoof the division walls 1 orrings 8,which may be formedl integral with the case or otherwise, is a packingringy 4. the structural characteristics of which are clearlyIillustrated in Figs. l, 2'and 3.

Each of the packing rings 4 is formed plurality of sections 1l, l2 and13, as pointed l out in my prior patent, the inner perimeters l 10 ofwhich are of the saine radii, fand these sections have angularlydisposed abutting faces upon which opposed faces of the adjacentsections slide and form gas and steam tight 'oints. Each section has anouter abutting ace 14 and an inner abutting face 15 both of which aredisposed tangentially to the inner peripheries 10 of t e sectlons,though not necessarily intersecting the same. These faces 14 and 15,.when three are used, are formed and related as the sides of anequilateral triangle A, B, C, Figs. 2 and 3, though obviously the numberof such sections and abutting faces may be increased,

l in which event the planes of the faces will be formed as the sides ofa corresponding equilateral geometric ligure, as will be readilyunderstood.

At the inner end ortion of the inner face 15 of each section 1s formed ashoulder 16, and at the inner end portion of the adjacent outer face 14of the adjacent section is a shoulder 17, as best shown in Figs. 4 and5. As pointed out in said prior patent, when the ring was expandedbeyond its smallest dimensions, the shoulders 16 and 17 obviouslyseparated somewhat and formed an opening between them through which gasor steam might pass, so that two rings were associated together betweenthe division wallsor rings of the case and arranged to break joints. Inthe present invention, however, the ring sections have transverselyextending overlapping portions which continue to,

close the openings between the shoulders when the sections areseparated, so that notwithstanding the expanded or contracted conditionof a packing ring, a gas and steam tight joint is always presentedbetween the ring sections, and, as a'consequence, it is not necessary touse more than one packing ring between the division walls of the case,as will be apparent.

In the present form of the packing ring, the inner abutting face of eachring has projecting therefrom a tongue or overlapping portion18,.bestshown in Figs. 4 and 5,which extends into a suitable recess or groove 19formed in the adjacent portion of the next ring, so that when thesections of the ring are expanded and the shoulders 16 and 17 separated,as indicated in Fig. 5, the fingers or projecting portions 18 and thecoperating slots-or recesses 19 continue to form a gas and steam tightjoint closing the opening between the shoulders. If the projections 18and coperating slots 19 are omitted,

.evidently it will be desirable to use two packing rings, as in my priorpatent, the openings between the shoulders breaking joints.

As well known by those skilled in the art, the temper of the surroundingspring for holding the ring sections together and in contractingposition .would be largely impaired, if not destroyed, if the heatedgases from thel explosion chamber of the gas engine came in contact withthe spring, and withthis fact in view, the present inventioncontemplates so housing and protecting the spring-that the corrosiveaction of the gases thereon and the destruction of the spring temper areobviated. As one means of securing this result, the sections of thepacking ring are provided with face recesses`20 the walls of whichpreferably converge from the face of the ring toward the seat for thespring 21, as indicated in Fig. 1, said spring 21 being preferably of as iral character and extending circumferentia ly of the sections in theseating grooves L20 thereof, as indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

It will be understood that the groove 20 in the sections, when saidsections are assembled, extends circularly and that the entrance to thegroove 20 is of greater radius than said spring seating portion thereof,the effect being that by slightly expanding the spring 21 as itis-placed in the groove 20, it will, by slightly contracting, forceitself to its seat in the bottom of the groove and be retained therein,as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Packing rings as thus constructed are placed in the retaining case, asindicated in Fig. 1, preferably one in each of the retains ing recessesor grooves of said case, with the opening of the recess 20 of the ringfacing outward yor from the explosion cylinder. That is, the opening ofthe recess 20 when the ring is in place will face away from theexplosion cylinder and toward the adjacent wall 8, the effect being thatwhen the highly heated gas moves in the direction of the arrows of Fig.1, between the piston rods 7 and the opening between the interiorsurfaces of the division walls of the case, it will act upon the planeface 22 of the packing ring and seat the opposite face of the ringcontaining the groove 2() firmly against the division Wall or rin 8 ofthe case. It will be readily apparent Irom this that even should theheated gases get into the ring recess of the case, they cannot come incontact with jor injure the spring 21 which is at such times sealedwithin the spring retaining groove 20.

As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, any gas thatmay get between the outer perimeter of the packing ring and thesurrounding wall ofthe retainingl recess, in

other words, any gas which will get into the recess containing thepacking ring will tend to cause a contraction of the ring, if the ringis free to contract, thereby forcin the sections thereof hard againstthe piston rod, with consequent injuryV and objection. In order toobviate this effect which is largely if not entirely confined to thering next to the explosion cylinder and which, for identification, mayhereinafter be termed the initial packing ring, the combined length ofthe inner perimeters of the initial ring when that ring is in its mostcontracted condition, as indicated in Fig. 2, is just equal to the cir-4 outer perimeter ofthe ring will sim cumference of the rod which itpacks, so that any external pressure, as by gases, u on the y cause the'shoulder portions 16 and 17 o the frsections to be held more firmly 4incondition without at the same time contracting the ring so as to bindupon the rod.r Asthe rod or interior perimeter of the initial'ringwears, the shoulder portions and their tongues 18 may be trimmed off soas to preserve a proper fit betweentlie ring and the rod.

The combined length of the innerperimeters of the other rings is lessthan the circumference of the rod which they pack, so

that while the initial packing ring cannot contact and bind upon the rodin response to external gas pressure, the other rings may contract, inresponse to the surrounding spring 21, as the piston rod or innerperimeters of the rings wear, as will be readily understood.

From the described construction, it will be apparent that the spring 2lfor holding the sections of the rin in o sition, as hereinbeforedescribed, Wil at a l times be sealed from the action of the hi hlyheated gases or other iuids which may nd their Way between the ring andthe surrounding Walls of the case, and, as Will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art, the packing rings may be arranged with one in eachrecess or between each of the division walls 8 of the retaining case,whether those ywalls be made integral or separate from such case, or, ifdesired, two or more of these rings may be thus placed, and, in anyevent, ythe spring retaining groove 20 of the rings will bear upon theface of the division wall of the case or upon t-he plane face of anotherring, the ultimate effect being substantially the same.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the retaining groove20 for the spring may bevariously formed, the characteristic essentialthereof being -that when the spring is seated therein it shall be sealedfrom the action of the gases or other fluids which tend to destroy itstemper.

What is claimed is:

1. A packing ring comprising three or more relatively movable sections,each of which is provided with inner and outer abutting faces formed inplanes corresponding to the sides of an equilateral geometric figure,said sections having a spring. retaining groove in one of the side facesthereof, a spring for contracting said sections seated in said groove, aretaining case for said packing ring, and a wall against which thegrooved face of the sections bear to close said groove to the entranceof expansive gases.

2. A packing ring comprising three or more relativel movable sections,each of which is providbd with inner and outer abutting faces formed inplanes corresponding to `the sides of an equilateral geometric figureand lhaving transversely disposed overlap-4 ping portions, said sectionshaving a spring retaining groove in one of the side faces thereof, aspring for contracting said sections seated in said groove, a retainingcase for said packing ring, and a wall against which the grooved face ofthe sections may ibe forced to close the grooveto the entrance of thegases.

A packing ring comprising three or more re atively movable sections eachof which is providedwith inner and outer abutting faces formed in planescorresponding to the sides of an equilateral geometric iigure, saidsections having a sprin retaining groove formed in one' of the side acesthereof, a spring for contracting said sections seated in said groove, aretaining case and a division Wall which closes the entrance to said sring retaining groove.

4. packing ring comprising three or more relativel movable sectionseacli of whichis provi ed with inner and outer abutting .faces formed inlanes corresponding to the sides of an equi ateral geometric figure andhaving transversely disposed overlapping portions, said sections havinga spring retaining groove formed in one of the side faces thereof, thewalls of said spring retaining groove 'converging toward the center ofthe ring, a sprin for contracting said sections seated in lsai groove,Va retaining case, and a Wall against which the grooved face of thesections may bear o close said groove.

5. A packing ring comprising three or ting faces disposed at an angle toeach other and formed in planes corresponding to the sides of anequilateral geometric figure, said sections being provided with a springretaining groove in a side face thereof having a spring seat formed on acircle spring seated in said groove and tending to move the sectionstoward each other, and a retaining case and a division wall againstwhich they grooved face of the sections bear.

7. packing ring comprising three or more relatively movable sections,each having an inner and an outer abutting face angularly disposed withrelation to each other,

more relatively movable sections, each of packing ringcoiiiprising'three or.

which is provided with inner and outer abutof less ra- /dius than theentrance to said groove, a

the contacting inner and outer faces of ad- 'oining sections formingsteam joints, the abutting face of one section having a recess and theabutting face of the other section having a transversely extendingportion to engage said recess, a spring retaining groove formed in theside face portions of said sections, and a retaining spring seated insaid groove.

8. A packing for piston rods and the like, comprising a retaining case,division rings forming between them packing ring recesses, a packingring contained in each of said recesses and formed of three or moresections having abutting faces disposed in planes corresponding to thesides of an equilateral geometric igure, a spring retaining groove yformed in one side face of the ring sections,

and bearing upon the face of a division ring, and a spring in saidgroove tending to draw the sections together. I

9. A packing for piston rods and the like, comprising a retaining case,division rings forming between them packing ring recesses, a packingring contained in each of said recesses and formed of three or moresections having abutting faces disposed in planes corresponding to thesides of an equilateral geometric figure, a spring retaining grooveformed in one side face of the ring sections, and bearing upon the faceof a division ring, and a spring in said groove tending to draw thesections together, the 'sections of the initial packing ring beingnoncontractible when on piston rod and the sec- .like, comprisingj aretaining case, e

tions of the other rings being contractible when on said rod.

10. A packing for piston rods and the division rings forming tween them.packing ring recesses, a packing ring contained 1n each of said recessesand formed of three or more sections having abutting faces disposed inplanes corresponding to the sides of an equilateral geometric figure,said faces having interlocking transversely disposed projections andrecess, a spring retaining groove formed in one side face of the ringsections, and bearing upon the face of a division ring, and a spring insaid groove tending to draw the sections together.

11. A packing ring comprising three or more sections 11, 12 and 13having abutting inner and outer faces formed in planes corresponding ltothe sides of an equilateral geometric figure, a spring retaining grooveformed in a side face of said sections and having a spring retainingseat, a spring 21 mounted in the seat of said spring retaining groove,and a retaining case for said packing ring having a division wall forclosing the groove to the entrance of gases.

In testimonyT whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADAM W. FRANCE.

Witnesses:

W. C. BURKHOLDER, F. H. COOPER.

